"Aren't you going to continue the artillery business?" Machiavelli asked.

"Not yet," said Giulio, "we've released enough beasts." ”

"But they're there...... in the hearts of men. Machiavelli said softly.

"What?"

"No, nothing," said Machiavelli, "I have prepared a roster of ceramic workers among the homeless, would you like to take a look?" ”

"How many people are there?"

"Two thousand seven hundred." Machiavelli said: "There are quite a few people, after all, Rimini, Imola, Forlì, and Faenza have been making tin-glazed pottery from Arabia since two hundred years ago, and later there are people on the tin white glaze body, with oxidized gold, oxidized silver, copper oxide and other glaze colors to paint various ornaments, and then heat and reduce them into metal glazed pottery, which has always been very popular with merchants, but recently, the people of Faenza have developed a new kind of white pottery, which is far more elegant and quality than the first two." ”

"Well, that's good," said Giulio, "I have something new to teach them to do." ”

"Can I know what that is?"

"White porcelain."

Giulio replied, "Do you have any questions?" Machiavelli, you don't look very pleasant. ”

"I'm worried about you." Machiavelli said, "My lord, Caesar. Borgia is already the master of Imola, Forlì, Pesaro, and Rimini, and Faenza, with the support of you, Florence, and the other cities, will fall in just a few months, and he will become Duke of Romagna. ”

"And then?"

"Your kindness, I have learned deeply," said Machiavelli, "but now is the time for you to show your strength." ”

"Well," Julio whispered, "you're agitating me and Caesar. Borgia becomes the enemy, and you want to see us fight. ”

"Isn't it? Your Highness, you have long been enemies. ”

"I never took Caesar. Borgia regarded him as an enemy, not before, not now, and not necessarily after," Giulio didn't seem to see Machiavelli's disappointed eyes: "I know what you're thinking, since I can come up with so many artillery, muskets and gunners, and the support of the Spanish general Gonzalo and the Duchess of Brittany, I should stand in front and fight Caesar. Borgia engaged in a fang-to-fang, claw-to-claw battle to decide who was the king of Italy. ”

Machiavelli didn't speak, but his deep bent over said it all.

"But did you know that I once wrote a letter to Pope Alexander VI?" Giulio said, looking at Machiavelli's rapidly raised head, he smiled: "Yes, I said that I have an understanding of Borgia's ambitions, not only do I understand, but I even planned for them, and that letter is a little bit of what I did...... Speculation, with ideas, but this letter, in the end, did not fall into the hands of the Pope.

Of course, no one told me, but I knew from the attitude of the Pope towards me, perhaps out of jealousy, perhaps because he did not trust me enough, that Caesar did not deliver this letter to Alexander VI as I had asked him to do - I am to blame, but it doesn't matter, but do you want to know what is written in this letter? His tone was soft, but Machiavelli's back was soaked in cold sweat.

"Borgia wanted to unify Italy, and then become the king of Italy - but we all know that there are many people who do not want to unify Italy, both inside and outside, and there are disorganized and selfish princes, outside, France, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain...... No country wants to see a cohesive Italy, so we have to do both at the same time: first, we want to get rid of the princes, but we can't be the target of public criticism. The best way to do this is to prop up a seemingly powerful puppet and let him bear the hatred and hatred on his behalf, and when he has done his work and cut off the thorns from the rose stalks, we can emerge as an impartial arbiter, calming the anger of the people and merging peacefully...... No, the agent of those who have lost their masters' domains; Second, for external interference, it is better to take advantage of the contradictions that exist between them, or to create contradictions, the identity of the Apostolic See, if used properly, is very powerful, you see, just like Spain and Portugal before them, since they have asked for the Apostolic See in the division of the colonies, they must make concessions in other matters, and what we need is only ten or twenty years, just one generation, we can put a concept of Italy deeply into everyone's heart, so that Even if there are enemies from outside who want to drive a wedge between us, it will be of no avail.

These are just shallow, naïve tactics, but I think Caesar may have seen it, and he, he apparently thought, that this letter might win me the favor of the Pope, you know, I once wanted to take off my vestments and talk to Lucrea. Borgia made a marriage contract, and maybe that's the only step I'm missing.

The world makes things happen, Machiavelli, but since they don't want to do that, then it doesn't matter if I do it, you know? “

"But why," cried Machiavelli, "since Caesar. . . Borgia has learned why he is still ......"

"Obviously, he's like you," Giulio said, "and thinks violence is the best way to solve problems." He looked at Machiavelli sternly: "Just like you did with Alexander VI in the royal hall of the Vatican Palace." ”

"But how can you control such a murder weapon?" Machiavelli muttered.

"Control? No," said Giulio mildly, "do you care how the blades of the scissors work when you prune the branches of a tree?" As long as you see the result, so do I—and the Borgias, their ambitions, their nature, doomed them to a path to purgatory, whether they saw their end or not. ”

Machiavelli was silent for a moment: "Well," he hissed, "I did do a stupid thing before." ”

"Yes," said Giulio bluntly, "where did you ask me to find another Borgia?" ”

At that moment there was a knock on the door, and a Picominian monk stood in the doorway, and respectfully inquired that a knight had come from Rome who wanted to see Archbishop Lucca, and that he would like to see him at this time.

"Rome?" Giulio glanced at Machiavelli, who immediately retreated to the next room.

This dusty knight was about thirty or forty years old, and for some reason, just standing there, he had a terrifying aura, but his eyes were lifeless and full of sadness.

He was very humble and very polite, but the conversation with Archbishop Lucca was very brief, and when Machiavelli came out, he looked strange, "That's one of the Templars, I fought against him, why, Alexander VI asked him to come?" ”

"Hmm." Julio smiled and said, "If assassination is also a way of dispatching." ”

Machiavelli was truly taken aback, for he could not understand that the Templars had been sent to do more than Alexander VI's intention to take Giulio's life: "What does the Grand Master of the Templar want to do?" Isn't it enough for the Templars to disguise themselves as French royal knights, but also to do business with the Assasins? ”

"Perhaps," said Giulio, "it is a pity that the knights were unwilling, and though they came, they gave me a letter requesting a duel, one-on-one. ”

"One-on-one?"

"yes." Julio said, "though they still have twelve men, they will only send one knight to fight against me, and if he wins, they go to Rhodes, and if he loses, they fight each other to the last." ”

"Where's the last one?"

"Go to hell."

————————————

Giulio and the Templars were outside Lucca, where they could see the concrete houses where the homeless people lived, like mushrooms in the night, with the Sergio River next to them, jokingly saying that it was especially convenient to dump corpses.

The Templars wore no armor, only a handful of horses, and looked almost indistinguishable from the members of the first Templar Order, with the smell of poverty all over their bodies.

They met Julio. The Medici were surprised to come alone, and after a moment of discussion, a knight came out.

This knight, probably the youngest of all the Templars, held his sword in an awkward posture, not like a battle-hardened knight.

"Who is he?" Giulio asked.

"My nephew," said the knight who had sent the duel letter earlier, "he is only eighteen years old, but he has been trained as a knight compared to you, so this duel is fairly fair. ”

"I think," said Giulio, "probably not so fair." ”

Then, without even giving the Templars time to think, he stepped forward and drew his sword with his backhand, cutting into the gap between his opponents from the bottom up - in the blink of an eye, the poor little Templar fell to the ground with a thud, and his uncle ran over to see that he had only been knocked unconscious.

"He may have been trained as a knight," said Giulio, "but I have also been trained, and I have not stopped a day since I was eight years old, so," he smiled as he plunged his sword into the ground, "let the strongest of you come!" ”

——————

Machiavelli examined Giulio's wounds, and thankfully, though many, they were not serious, "You should wear Assasin's gear." ”

"Well," said Giulio, "that way those Templars will be scared to death, how easy!" ”

Machiavelli snorted, "And then, you let them go like this?" ”

"yes," said Giulio with a smile, "I let them go to Rhodes." ”